


Winry and Paninya's Excellent Adventure

by altoinkblots



Series: Hugs Heal the Wounds Tears Leave Behind [7]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Asexual Male Character, Bisexual Female Character, F/F, F/M, First Meetings, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Mutual Pining, No Proofreading We Die Like Men, Slow Burn, but there are moments, this is mostly winry and paninya
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:02:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25355197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/altoinkblots/pseuds/altoinkblots
Summary: “Nun-uh. Today is girl’s day, and I’m curious about what is going on with you.”Winry pursed her lips and sent a glare towards Paninya. It was true, they hadn’t had as much time recently to hang out, just the two of them, and Winry had missed it. But she had also been sort-of-not-really avoiding her friend. She didn’t know why. It didn’t help that she was under a lot of stress: applying for trade schools in Central, she had been spending more time with Ed and her feelings kept getting twisted up inside her, and the fact that she had recently started going to therapy to help process all of… that. And more.But Paninya was right, it was their day, and she didn’t want to lie to her friend anymore, even if it was by omission.Paninya reached over and put her hand on Winry’s forearm. “You all right?”Winry nodded. “Yeah. So, um, I think I may like Ed.”Winry has been acting super weird ever since All Soul's Feast, which happened months ago, and Paninya is determined to get to the bottom of it.
Relationships: Edward Elric/Winry Rockbell, Paninya & Winry Rockbell, Paninya/Rosé Thomas
Series: Hugs Heal the Wounds Tears Leave Behind [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1680922
Comments: 8
Kudos: 28





	Winry and Paninya's Excellent Adventure

**Author's Note:**

> This is mainly a gen fic with Paninya and Winry being quality good friends, but there's some stuff in here. That, and this is a predominately Edwin series, so it was never going to be completely gen. Ah, oh well.
> 
> Also, I'm aware, it's been months since my last update; but the muse wants what it wants and right now it doesn't want this that much. But I still got it out and I'm happy with it, so that is that. Enjoy!!

Paninya bit her lip as she looked behind her with her elbow resting on the back of her seat. “Let me know if I’m going to hit anything, okay?”

“Sure thing,” said Winry. Pulling into any parking spot in downtown Central was a nightmare, but the only spot they could find within the past ten minutes was a parallel-parking spot and no matter how many times Paninya tried parallel-parking she usually managed to scratch something.

Paninya backed into the spot, shifted gears, then pulled forward a little bit before putting her car into park and turning it off. “Did I cause any property damage?”

“Not this time,” Winry said with a smile.

Paninya let out a sigh of relief. “I hate parking.”

“I know.”

Still buckled, Paninya put her hands on her hips. “All right. You ready to hit town and check out all of the hot girls?”

Both her and Winry laughed. “I’m always ready to look at cute girls.”

“Good. You do realize that this is the first time in  _ months _ that you’ve been free? We used to do this all the time. Breakfast dates, just you and me.”

“Sorry,” Winry apologized. “I’m busy with work, and by the time it gets to the weekend, Ed and I just want to chill.”

“Uh-huh. Whatever you say, Winry.” She unbuckled and got out of the car. “Though, are you sure you should be looking at potential girlfriends with me?”

Winry sighed and got out of the car, checking that no cars were passing by. “I’m not going to dignify that with a response.”

Paninya looked above the car and grinned at Winry. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

Winry pulled her hat down over her ears. It was getting warmer, with it being mid-March and all, but there was still a chill in the air and sludge on the streets. She stuffed her hands into her pockets. Paninya hooked her arm through Winry’s, and together they crossed the street to their usual breakfast spot. It was a small diner tucked between a wholesale food store and a bank. Luckily for them it wasn’t well-known and the only people that ever went there were old, retired men and the occasional book club, leaving plenty of booth space for the pair of them. 

They headed back to their usual booth, the smell of coffee and sizzling breakfast overwhelming Winry. Still keeping her arm looped around Paninya’s she stuffed her hat into her pocket. Paninya took off her coat and shoved it next to the wall. Winry did the same. They fell into an easy rhythm of chatting and laughing. The waitress came by with the menus and left them both with cups of coffee. Winry preferred hers black with a little cream in it to offset the bitter taste, but Paninya took almost all of the sugar packets and dumped them into her coffee while talking about her latest adventures with her group of friends that she played a tabletop roleplaying game with. 

“… we decided to go ham with the charisma checks. I mean, we even had the sheep dancing and the fighter trying to get close to this dude to get his sword from him when all of a sudden the wizard casts this spell and the bandits—who we thought were allied with us!—turned on us and their leader took the sword.”

Winry sipped some of her coffee. “Wow.”

“Well, the fight pretty much ended when the druid turned the evil bard into a goldfish and stuffed her into the bag of holding.”

They both laughed. Winry had gotten into the tabletop roleplaying game a few years ago, but her schedule had never worked out to play it consistently so she lived vicariously through Paninya. Her friend was more than happy to oblige. 

They ordered their food. Paninya got a large meal with sausage, bacon, eggs, hash browns, and pancakes; Winry ordered a stack of pancakes with a side of applesauce. 

Paninya took a sip of her overly-sugared coffee. “What time do you need to be back?”

“Preferably by three,” said Winry. “Ed said he wanted to do something today, but I told him that you had priority.”

Paninya raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

Winry rolled her eyes. “Stop it.”

“Stop what?”

“Whatever this is.” She gestured in Paininya’s general direction. “Right now, you have my whole, undivided attention.” At that moment, her phone buzzed. She pointedly ignored it.

“I’m not doing anything,” Paninya said with a smug grin. “Aren’t you going to answer that?”

Winry took out her phone and, with Paninya in clear sight of her screen, turned the phone completely off. “No, I’m not.” She shoved it back into her pocket. 

Paninya shrugged. “Whatever you say.”

Winry groaned. “Can we please not do this now?”

“Do what?”

“You know what.”

Paninya leaned forward and put her elbows on the table. “Communication is key to any relationship. If you want me to stop something, then tell me in clear words what you would like me to stop.”

Winry mirrored Paninya’s position with her arms resting on the table. “Fine. Can we focus on our relationship, please?”

“Are there any other relationships that you’re in?”

Winry groaned. “There it is.”

Paninya grinned. 

Winry narrowed her eyes, then leaned back against the booth. “Have you started planning your family’s annual camping trip?”

“No, because there’s family drama going on, and you changed the subject.”

“Oh, come on. This was the year you got me permission to go.”

She shrugged. “Hey, when your weird uncle and trigger-happy grandma have a fight over who gets the baby named after them and you still want to have a family camping trip, be my guest.”

Winry sighed, disappointed. She had been hearing about Paninya’s family’s annual camping trip to Briggs State Park for years, and after years of pestering her family, Paninya had finally gotten permission for Winry to go. Mostly because the closest people to Paninya in age were ten and thirty-eight. “Who’s having the baby?”

“Anna and Jake. Dominic’s kid and his wife.”

“Makes sense.”

Paninya crossed her arms and leaned back, her eyes scanning Winry’s face. “You have something on your mind.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Seriously? We’ve been friends for how long, and you don’t expect me to read you like an open book? Honestly. You’ve been a little weird ever since All Soul’s Feast.”

“Paninya…”

“Nun-uh. Today is girl’s day, and I’m curious about what is going on with you.”

Winry pursed her lips and sent a glare towards Paninya. It was true, they hadn’t had as much time recently to hang out, just the two of them, and Winry had missed it. But she had also been sort-of-not-really avoiding her friend. She didn’t know why. It didn’t help that she was under a lot of stress: applying for trade schools in Central, she had been spending more time with Ed and her feelings kept getting twisted up inside her, and the fact that she had recently started going to therapy to help process all of… that. And more. 

But Paninya was right, it was their day, and she didn’t want to lie to her friend anymore, even if it was by omission. 

Paninya reached over and put her hand on Winry’s forearm. “You all right?”

Winry nodded. “Yeah. So, um, I think I may like Ed.”

Paninya’s expression changed in an instant. Her eyes widened, her mouth opened in a wide, open-mouthed grin, and the hand resting on Winry’s arm squeezed it almost uncomfortably. “Shut. Up. I knew it!”

Winry put her hand over Paninya’s mouth.  _ “Shhh!” _

Paninya took Winry’s hand away. “No way. You don’t get to drop something like that and then ‘shush’ me. Besides, I’m an incurable gossip. I need all of the tea spilt. Now.”

The waitress came back with their food. Winry dug into her pancakes with vigor. Paninya slurped her coffee, her eyebrows raised. Winry put her fork down and sighed. “Here’s the thing: he’s aroace.”

Paninya blinked. Then it dawned on her. “Oh…”

“‘Oh’ is right. I like him, but I also like him and I don’t want to ruin our friendship nor invalidate his sexuality by saying, ‘Hey, I might be in love with you but that’s fine let’s not make this awkward at  _ all _ by reminding you every time we see each other that I have romantic feelings for you.’”

While not taking her eyes off of Winry, Paninya speared some hash browns with her fork and put them in her mouth. “You never know, he might be demi or grey.”

“The thing is, I have no way of knowing that.” Winry took the bottle of syrup and doused it all over her pancakes, effectively drowning them. “But there are these moments when I think that something, however impossible or small it might be, is there, but then he pulls away.”

Paninya cut her eggs open, the runny yellow yolk slowly overtaking her plate. 

“And the thing is, I was this close to swearing off men until I met Ed. You remember that, right?”

“We had a whole conversation about internalized heteronormativity and how, unfortunately, some people who identify as bisexual only identify that way because of internalized homophobia and heteronormativity saying that they have to have some form of attraction to the opposite gender. Is that the conversation in question?”

“Your memory blows me away.”

“The universe gives us special gifts. Mine is having the memory of a steel trap.”

Winry smiled. “You know I love you, right?”

“Obviously. You’d be an idiot not to.”

Winry shoveled a piece of syrup-soaked pancake into her mouth. “I think my biggest fear is that, by me saying or doing something, that I’d ruin our friendship.”

“Have you considered—oh, I don’t know—talking to him?”

“Why on earth would I do that?”

Paninya gave her a flat stare. “Honey. Darling. Sweetheart. You are talking to a  _ raging _ lesbian who has had  _ eight _ different opportunities to have a steady girlfriend ever since I came out, and who has taken  _ none _ of them because I was too much of a chicken to shoot my shot.”

“Okay, but that’s different.”

“Is it really?” She chugged the rest of her coffee, nearly slamming it back onto the table when she was done. “I’m not saying that you have to confess your undying love for him or whatever, but I think it’s almost like coming out. Test the waters, see where he stands. I like the miscommunication trope, but only in fiction. That only brings pain and misery in real life.”

“I am very much aware.”

“Good.” Paninya picked up a sausage link with her bare fingers and took a bite out of it. “Now promise me next time you see him or talk to him, you test the waters and get back to me. I’m emotionally invested in this now.”

Winry grinned and ate another piece of her pancakes. “I’ll make sure to keep that in mind.”

“Winry Rockbell, I swear on my great-aunt’s grave if  _ you don’t do something about this—“ _

“I’ll talk to him. I promise.”

Paninya narrowed her eyes. “You better.”

Winry grinned.

The conversation mostly mellowed out after that. Once they had finished breakfast they headed back to Paninya’s car. Winry directed Paninya over to a park that was empty and had a pile of dirty, melting snow taking up half of the parking lot. Winry shoved her hat back on her head, memories the last time she was at a park running through her head. 

Paninya turned the car off but didn’t move. She was still buckled in and her hands were on the steering wheel. Winry waved her hand in front of Paninya’s face. 

“Earth to Paninya.”

She blinked. “Sorry.”

“You zoned out there for a second.”

“Yeah. No thoughts, head empty; you know how it is.”

Winry laughed. “All too well.”

Paninya unbuckled her seat and took the keys out of the ignition. “Nothing like a crisp walk in the park during the middle of March.”

“Chim chim chir-ee.”

Paninya raised her eyebrows. “What the hell?”

Winry shook her head. “I don’t know, it sort of came out.”

Paninya shrugged and stepped out of the car. She put her hands on her hips and breathed in the crisp, cool air. “I’ve missed this.”

Winry unbuckled and stepped out. It was warmer now, so she didn’t feel the need to put her hat on. “What, March? It happens every year.”

Paninya threw a glove at her. “You know what I mean.”

Winry caught the glove and tossed it back. “I do.” She walked over next to Paninya, and the two of them set off around the park. Winry almost wanted to go on the swings, but there was still some snow on them and it wouldn’t be the same with Paninya. Not that Winry didn’t want to hang out with her, but it was different. She couldn’t put her finger on it.

They kept talking about random nothingness. At one point Paninya slipped on a patch of ice. Winry caught her and pulled her to her feet, snickering. However, a few minutes later Winry’s foot slipped on a small piece of ice, sending her sliding to her bottom. Paninya did laugh at that, and only pulled Winry up at her insistence. Winry stomped her feet, trying to get some residual snow off of her pants, grinning. Paninya’s laugh was infectious. It was just the right mix of low and cackling that made Winry want to keep laughing with her friend. She put her hands in her coat pockets, and they kept going.

About ten minutes later Winry realized her hat was missing. She searched her pockets for it, even looked around in the snow. It didn’t help that her hat was white (of all colors she could have chosen, and she chose white, what had she been thinking?) and that it blended into the snow almost perfectly. 

“Everything okay?”

“My hat’s gone.”

Paninya joined her in the search. “Do you think we should retrace our steps?”

Winry pursed her lips and sighed. “Yeah, that’s probably for the best. My ears were starting to get cold, too.”

“You can use mine.”

Winry waved her hand around. “Don’t worry about it. That’s what hoods are for, right?”

“Are you sure?”

Winry pointedly pulled her hood over her head. “See? It’s fine.”

Paninya rolled her eyes and linked her arm through Winry’s. “Whatever you say.” Her voice was dulled by the hood, but not enough that Winry couldn’t understand what she was saying. 

They went back along the sidewalk, evading patches of ice and snow. There wasn’t much slush here, but there were plenty of patches of blue salt scattered along the sidewalk to help the snow and ice to melt. Most of the slush was on the street where there was a lot more sand and cars moving through it throughout the day. 

After a few minutes of walking and scanning the area for her hat, Winry saw someone walking towards her. The person waved. They wore a red coat and for a moment her heart skipped a beat before she realized that the shape of the figure was all wrong. They were more feminine, for one, and had long black hair with the tips colored pink. 

“Hi, Winry!” Rosé called, waving.

Winry waved back.

“Who is this?” Paninya whispered softly to Winry.

“One of Ed’s friends. I used to have a little bit of a crush on her.”

“Cool.”

Rosé approached them. “I saw you walking and I thought I’d say hi.” She turned to Paninya and held her hand out. “My name is Rosé, nice to meet you.”

Paninya too Rosé’s hand and shook it. “Paninya.”

“Listen, I hate to ask you this, but have you seen a white hat with a Pom-Pom on top?” asked Winry. “I think I dropped it earlier.”

Rosé frowned and looked around. “You mean this one?” She bent over and picked up a white hat. Winry recognized it immediately. She took it from Rosé and put it into her pocket.

Paninya nudged Winry. “That wasn’t hard, now was it?”

“Surprisingly easy.”

Rosé smiled. “What are you two doing out here on this fine March day?”

“Going for a walk,” said Paninya.

“Paninya and I like to go out for breakfast together, and today was the day.”

“That’s really nice,” said Rosé. “Well, it was nice running into you. It was a pleasure to meet you, Paninya.”

Paninya cleared her throat. “You too.”

Rosé waved at the pair of them, and walked off.

Paninya turned to Winry. “She’s  _ cute _ .”

“There’s a reason I used to have a crush on her.”

“What stopped?”

Winry slowly blinked in Paninya’s direction. “Ed.”

Paninya nodded. “Right. Sorry. I forgot for a second that people are actually attracted to the opposite gender.” Winry elbowed her in the side. “Hey, it was only for a second.” She peered around Winry. “Do you have her phone number?”

Winry smiled knowingly. “Yeah.”

“Think you can give it to me?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

Winry gestured to Rosé’s retreating form. “She’s right there, ask her yourself.”

“I don’t know, what if she’s not actually gay?”

Winry looked at Paninya, then at Rosé, then back at Paninya. “You’re kidding me, right? What was it you said this morning…”

“Don’t you dare.”

“I think it was something about having eight different chances to have a girlfriend, but taking none of them because you, and I quote, ‘were too much of a chicken to shoot my shot.’” Winry looked back at Rosé. “Now nine.”

Paninya grumbled under her breath. “Fine. If I ask Rosé for her number, then you need to tell Ed something about your feelings, even if it’s testing the waters. Deal?”

“Deal.”

Paninya took one of her gloves off and spat into her hand. Rolling her eyes, Winry took her hand out of her pocket and shook it. It was nasty, but they had been doing it since they were kids, and Winry doubted Paninya was going to stop now.

Paninya put her glove back on.

“Now go after her,” Winry said, pushing on Paninya’s back. “Find your sweeping romance.”

“I will kill you.”

“You can certainly try.”

With a cheeky grin, Paninya ran after Rosé. Winry leaned up against a bare tree, watching from a distance. Paninya almost slipped a couple of times, making Winry snicker. Eventually Paninya caught up with Rosé, and the two started talking. She could almost feel Paninya’s smile. 

Winry turned around, giving the two of them some privacy. She took out her phone and turned it back on. It took a few moments to boot up completely, but once it did she went straight to her texts. There was one from Granny, with a picture of Den, and a short one from Ed.

_ Sorry,  _ it read, _ homework is a pain in the ass and I’m super behind as is. Rain check?? _ It was from almost two and a half hours ago.

Winry glanced back at Rosé and Paninya for a brief moment.  _ Of course, she sent back, whatever works for you and good luck on your pile of homework!!! _

He responded back immediately:  _ Ha ha ha I can practically smell the sarcasm from here _

_ Good because there’s plenty of it _ . She found herself smiling as she texted Ed, and although her fingers were getting cold she didn’t mind. 

_ I feel bad about the short notice, how about I make it up to you sometime _

_ You really don’t have to _

_ I kind of want to _

_ Okay. What do you have in mind?? _

_ I’m not sure _

_ How about another apple pie?? _

_ Okay _ . A few moments later he sent:  _ do you want to make it together this time? _

Winry tried to keep her smile and butterflies under control. She tried to remind herself that they were friends, nothing more; but that only made her smile deepen and a warmth spread to her fingers and toes. 

_ I’d love to _

Paninya hopped around the tree. Winry shoved her phone into her pocket. Paninya was practically glowing. She held up her phone. “I got her number,” she said with glee. 

Winry grinned. “Great.” She held out her arm. “Let’s continue our walk, shall we?”

“We shall,” Paninya said in a posh voice. 

The two of them laughed. Winry took her hood down from over her head and pulled her hat out of her pocket, shoving it on her head. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and while she wanted to pull it out and check it, that could also wait. She doubted Ed would be going anywhere anytime soon.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, I have no idea when the next installment is going to be here, but leave a comment/kudos if you liked it and we'll see how quickly we get this series resolved (I have a feeling we're closer to the end.. but who knows with Ed and Winry, honestly, they're built for slowburn it's almost as if they enjoy it. Dorks).


End file.
